May 8 - September 5, 2004

Venice Observed: Images of the Paradise of Cities features eight oil paintings, a watercolor and a print from the Museum’s permanent collection with Venice as the subject. The exhibition provides an exploration of the essential uniqueness of Venetian architecture—called venezianita—and its sumptuous and ever-changing engagement with the light, color and atmosphere of Venice that has captivated visitors for centuries.

Venice Observed: Images of the Paradise of Cities is on exhibit in the Museum’s Cove Gallery May 8 – September 5, 2004 and is supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Regular Museum admission is $7 adults and $5 children 4 to 17, Members and Children under 4 are free. Museum hours are Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday 11am to 5pm, Wednesday 11am to 8pm and Sunday 12pm to 5pm.

From the 13th century artisans who created St. Mark’s Cathedral’s radiant mosaics, to Henry James’ masterpiece set in Venice, On Wings of a Dove, the “paradise of cities” has left a singular imprint on the visual arts and letters. Venice Observed: Images of the Paradise of Cities will feature artists who worked in Venice including Jacopo di Paolo Marieschi, Felix Ziem, Edward Percy Moran, Ernest Galvan, Eugene Feldman and Dale Chihuly. The works are counter-pointed with the observations of writers like Henry James, George Gordon Lord Byron and John Ruskin and their views of Venice.

The exhibition will also feature a documentary on Dale Chihuly’s historic glass installations in Venice entitled, Chihuly Over Venice. This documentary will also be shown on PBS station WHYY on Sunday, May 30th at 1:30pm. Dale Chihuly at the Reading Public Museum: A Celebration in Glass will open at the Museum May 23 and run through September 12, 2004.